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Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith, Jr. is a minor character in the final scene of Mormon and Moroni and the protagonist of The Joseph Smith Story. Oddly, in Mormon and Moroni, Joseph has black hair, while in The Joseph Smith Story, he has blond hair. He is voiced by the late Lisa Michelson (credited then as "Liza Paulette") as a 7-year-old, and Bill Lawrence as a 14-year-old. Mormon and Moroni Joseph uncovers the golden plates at the Hill Cumorah while the Angel Moroni appears for a visit, and he holds them, which soon are translated to the Book of Mormon. The Joseph Smith Story In Lebanon, New Hamsphire, in 1813, Joseph Smith, as a young boy, complains that his leg hurts so bad. His mother (Lucy, née Mack) tells him the doctor will be here soon. Joseph fears the doctor will cut off his leg. His father (also named Joseph) tells him the doctor is from (?) College. Joseph Jr. asks why Jesus doesn't just let him die so it won't hurt anymore. Lucy tells him not to say that. Joseph Sr. tells him many children die from typhus when it comes to here, and to instead ask why the Lord is working so hard to keep him alive. Joseph's big brother Hyrum is heard saying that the doctors are coming. When the main doctor asks him if the pain is really bad, unfortunately, it is so affirmative that Joseph can hardly speak, so Lucy answers for him. When some medical students reveal, by answer to the doctor's question, that the books say to amputate, Joseph Jr. protests having his leg cut off. The doctor comforts him, assuring him that instead, he was going to try a new operation (to another protest): he was going to cut through all of the skin and muscles, drill into the bone, and saw through pieces of it, but that he'd have to bind him to the bed with a rope. Joseph Jr. refuses and says he can hold still. So the doctor tells him to drink some brandy so as not to feel the pain. Joseph refuses that too. Lucy mentions that they always thought that drinking alcohol was wrong. The doctor protests that, since it is "medicine," and doesn't want him crying out with pain and thrashing around to make it impossible. However, Joseph Jr. promises to hold still if his father holds him, and sends his mother out, much to her protest (at first). At one point, Joseph Jr. screams from the pain, alarming his mother, but tells her to go out. He has not even moved. Much later, a medical student assures Lucy that the operation went perfectly, so the doctors get thanked. Much later, Joseph Jr. asks his parents if he'll live. Joseph Sr. says yes. So Joseph Jr. promises to work hard and get strong. Lucy tells him to make his spirit strong, just as well as his body. Joseph Jr. promises that, as he is recovering. Seven years later, Joseph, with his family (including those never even born before), listens to a reverend in a church, preaching that the Lord has decided on the path of their lives, and that there'll be no way to change it. When one of Joseph's younger brothers, Samuel, is being lectured for not only having brought a frog to church, but for putting it down the back of an even younger brother William's shirt. Joseph, remembering what the reverend had said, says he cannot blame Samuel for it, and decides that the sermon meant that the Lord made Samuel put the frog down William's shirt. Joseph Sr. tells him it's nonsense. Joseph Jr. mentions he thought the same negative statement when it was said. Hyrum teases him that he'll never get baptized, much to his mother's shock. After she chastises Hyrum for this, she tells Joseph Jr. he can't become a Christian if he doesn't get baptized. Back at home, Joseph is teased by the oldest of his sisters, Sophronia, that he hasn't been baptized. Joseph says he can't do it, not because (according to William's assumption) he doubts he has sins, which he knows he does. Hyrum tells him about Jesus' baptism, which Joseph knows. In fact, Joseph Jr. wants his baptism to be just as true. Joseph shops for flour and salt, and the clerk tells him to go to the campgrounds that night, assuring him he'll learn the true gospel there. Its preacher doesn't teach the fullness of the gospel either, though. One of its members was drinking wine, and the preacher calls him a good Christian. Alvin, the oldest Smith offspring, asks Joseph if he made up his mind yet, but Joseph doesn't know. That night, while everyone else is asleep, Joseph Jr. reads the Bible by candlelight. Hyrum questions this. Joseph Jr. reads aloud James 1:5 and asks if he'll find out the truth about which church to join. Hyrum assures him it will be the case, and to get some sleep. Joseph Jr. meets by another church sermon, which is not right either, and he even works hard. One day, Joseph Jr. walks into the forest near his home to pray, but a dark cloud surrounds him to try to stop him from praying, to his anguish. This doesn't stop him, though, as he only prays that the Lord will deliver him from the enemy. It ends when a light shines from Heaven. Heavenly Father introduces Jesus to Joseph and tells him to "Hear Him." Joseph asks which church is right, and which to join. Jesus tells him not to join any of the churches, as they're all wrong. He explains to Joseph that the churches draw near to Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him; they teach men's commandments; and they copy the forms of godliness, but deny God's power. So Joseph asks how anyone can follow Him if he doesn't know the way. Jesus chooses Joseph to be an instrument in my hands. He walks home, worn out, telling his worried mother about this vision. She believes and hugs him.